Will the iPad flourish or fail? On the eve of the tablet's release, consider Apple's fallen fruit before making up your mind.

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Pippin

1996: The gaming console Pippin, released through Japanese company Bandai, floundered because of competition with the Sega Saturn and the Nintendo64 -- and its hefty price tag.

(<a href="http://www.allaboutapple.com">AllAboutApple</a>)

pippin

Macintosh TV

1993: The Macintosh TV, Apple's first foray into computer-television integration, was on the market for only a year due to poor graphic quality. Apple's continued work in the field ultimately yielded 2007's successful Apple TV, which enabled users to access their iTunes files on TV via a digital media receiver.

(AP)

macintosh-tv

Macintosh Clones

1995: After years of having its Macintosh OS pirated, Apple started officially licensing its operating system to run on clone hardware. Although the program spawned a number of manufacturers, including Motorola and the popular Power Computing Corp., the program was quickly shut down.

(David Mueller/Wikipedia)

macintosh-clones

eWorld

1994: Apple launched its eWorld program exclusively for the Mac OS, as competition to AOL. Limited to e-mail and bulletin boards, eWorld was discontinued after two years.

(<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/zero_data/">Flickr.com</a>)

eworld

Cyberdog

1996: As an Internet browser, Cyberdog offered e-mail, an address book and news updates. Apple lost money on the project and cancelled the venture in 1997.